I Love NY signs: State wanted to swap signs with almost identical ones

A USA TODAY Network review of 3,000 pages of contracting documents shows the state paid extra and used emergency contracts to get the tourism-related highway signs up by July 4.

Jon Campbell / Albany Bureau

ALBANY - Meet the new signs, same as the old signs?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration has pledged to erect revamped I Love NY road signs to replace the current controversial ones, which are at the center of a years-long dispute that led the federal government to withhold $14 million in highway funding on Feb. 1.

This is the type of sign the state Department of Transportation asked the Federal Highway ...more

This is the type of sign the state Department of Transportation asked the Federal Highway Administration for permission to erect in a January 2018 proposal. It is nearly identical to the signs the state has vowed to remove after the federal administration withheld $14 million.

NYSDOT proposal

But just days before, the state submitted a proposal calling for new signs nearly identical to the ones already lining the state's highways — with the same size, colors, tourism logos, web address and mobile application that are currently on display.

The state's Jan. 29 proposal — quickly rejected by the federal government — suggested removing at least 400 of the 514 current I Love NY signs beginning in April or May. The signs are generally grouped in five, with a large "motherboard" followed rapidly by four signs touting individual tourism programs.

The state proposed replacing them, however, with about 80 signs almost exactly the same as the current motherboards, save for one difference: The wording at the top would be changed to say "Welcome to the Finger Lakes," or whichever region's boundary it marked.

The USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau obtained a copy of the proposal, which the state and federal government have not yet released publicly.

"The sign will note the name of the economic development region being entered, and will also contain the State tourism brand logos so that visitors can better understand the approved Attraction signs that they will encounter along the highway," according to the state's proposal.

The state and federal government have been feuding over 514 of these "I Love NY" highway signs, ...more

The state and federal government have been feuding over 514 of these "I Love NY" highway signs, including this one in Schenectady.

Cuomo's administration began installing I Love NY signage in 2014 and significantly expanded it in 2016, despite the Federal Highway Administration, or FHWA, rejecting the state's request to experiment with similar signs in 2013.

The state spent $8.1 million erecting the controversial signs.

The FHWA says the signs are a potential safety hazard that do not convey relevant information to motorists as they're driving and are too close to one another. They contain too much information and include various fonts, images and a web address that all violate strict highway signage rules and state law, according to FHWA.

The state did not paint its decision as a reaction to the federal fine, instead claiming that the previous I Love NY advertising campaign was coming to an end.

Paul Karas, acting DOT commissioner, and acting Thruway executive director Matt Driscoll vowed on Feb. 2 to work with FHWA on the design of the new signs.

"Existing materials will be reused but, as the signs will be redesigned for the new campaign, we will consult with FHWA during this process," Karas and Driscoll said in a joint statement then.

Joseph Morrissey, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, declined to say whether the state is scrapping the design included in its Jan. 29 proposal.

“As we said, the new signs will be launched for the summer tourism cycle and as such must be concluded before the September FHWA deadline," Morrissey said in an email last week. "Details will be forthcoming.”